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Catering, Vending and Cooking For The Masses.this forum is OnTopic. A resource to help with catering, vending and just cooking for large parties. Topics to include Getting Started, Ethics, Marketing, Catering resources, Formulas and recipes for cooking for large groups.

We have done road side vending, but at the end of the month will be our first festival vend. I am needing some help on how much I should prepare.

This is the first year for the festival. It is 2 days. On Friday, it is from 4:00 - 10:00 and on Saturday 11:00-10:00.

This is the first year for the festival (good size town) and there is a parade, car show, live music, and carnival rides. There is one other BBQ vendor (not happy because I was the only one when I signed up) but I was told he will be set up at the other end of the festival.

I can't give numbers on how many people they are expecting, because this is the first year for it. Yes, there will be other food vendors there, but I don't think there will be TOO many of them.

My menu will be Pulled Pork Sammies, Brisket Sammies, Ribs, and MOINK Balls. Sides are simple... bags of chips and cans of soda.

So with the information given.... and all the "unknown factors"... how much do you think I should precook/prepare?

Should I add more of one and less of another? Your thoughts? Do I need more pork butts and briskets?

The event is put on the by cities chamber of commerce.

The city it is in has probably 28,000, there are three very close towns in the same county that have 13,000, 22,000, and 3,000 people. 2010 census showed over 145,000 for the county the festival will be held in....All within probably 20-30 minutes of the festival.

When really in doubt decide what your time is worth and what you would be comfortable cooking , then do that and run out of food always good and it will tell you what to do next year, never worry about not having enough, as left overs are killers on profit.

How long have you been trying to make money at this? My brother and I are considering this is a hobby but don't know where to begin and what to buy. My family is all "foodies" but taking it to the next level seems overwhelming and I'd love to get the perspective of a fellow hoosier.

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How long have you been trying to make money at this? My brother and I are considering this is a hobby but don't know where to begin and what to buy. My family is all "foodies" but taking it to the next level seems overwhelming and I'd love to get the perspective of a fellow hoosier.

The way I see it you have two problems that are not related to the number of people that MAY show up. First you have two long meats to cook, I would drop the brisket because of the food cost and add chicken, it is cheaper for the customer and you make more per serving plus if you cook too much you won't have a lot of lost profit. Moinks take a lot of prep time and you can't really get enough to justify the time. Ribs are ok since you can cook them ahead and finish at the event. Since this is a two day event you will have some idea before you cook for Saturday. Be really careful or you will be buried.